The invention relates to a method of determining the cause of an error state in an apparatus, and has particular application, for example, to use in determination of errors in self service terminals (SST) such as automated teller machines (ATM).
As the invention has particular application to the analysis of causes of error states in an ATM, for the sake of clarity, the invention will be described with reference to an ATM and to a network of ATMs. However, the invention can be applied to the operation of any apparatus or device as well as any network of such apparatuses or devices.
A standard ATM having the facility to dispense bank notes includes electronic control means connected to both a currency dispenser unit and a user interface device. As is well known, in operation of such an ATM a user inserts a user identity card into the machine and then enters certain data, such as a personal identification number (PIN) and the quantity of currency required to be dispensed, by means of a key pad incorporated in the user interface device. The ATM will then process the requested transaction, dispense notes extracted from one or more storage cassettes within the currency dispenser unit, update the user's account to reflect the transaction and return the card to the user as part of a routine operation.
In operation of an ATM, various malfunctions may occur from time to time. For example, bank notes may become jammed in the feed path, the pick means, utilised to select a note from an ATM currency cassette, may fail to pick a bank note from the associated storage cassette, or there may occur multiple feeding in which two or more notes are fed in superposed relationship to the stacking means.
The problems discussed above may be caused by wear of components in the dispenser unit or by changes in the ambient conditions in the vicinity of the ATM.
When ATM malfunctions, such as those discussed above, occur the ATM may be shut down until the malfunction is rectified, which will require the intervention of a trained operator, or in the event of multiple feeding the picked notes will be diverted to a purge bin resulting in less efficient operation of the ATM.
These problems have to-date been addressed by a sensor system arranged to monitor the condition of ATM components, at any given time, in which raw device status information is sent to a management system. There is, however, no information about previous state changes, and therefore any decisions made on the data are on a snapshot of the current state of the ATM, not on what has happened in light of previous behaviour. The factors which cause an error state, particularly a fatal state, may be complex and extremely difficult to ascertain from the available information.